SS Stephen Hopkins

Picture of Stephen Hopkins at her launch.
History
NameStephen Hopkins
NamesakeStephen Hopkins
BuilderPermanente Metals Corporation
LaunchedMay 1942
FateSunk in battle September 27, 1942
General characteristics
Class and typeLiberty ship
Tonnage7,181 GRT
Length441.5 ft (135 m)
Beam57 ft (17 m)
Draught27.75 ft (8 m)
Propulsiontriple expansion, 2,500 ihp (1,900 kW)
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Armament1 × 4 in (102 mm)/50 caliber gun (Mark 9)[1] 2 × 37 mm cannon; 6 machine guns

SS Stephen Hopkins was a United States Merchant Marine Liberty ship that served in World War II. She was the only US merchant vessel to sink a German surface combatant during the war.

She was built at the Permanente Metals Corporation (Kaiser) shipyards in Richmond, California. Her namesake was Stephen Hopkins, a Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence from Rhode Island.[2] She was operated by Luckenbach Steamship Company under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.

  1. ^ Campbell 1985 p.143
  2. ^ Sawyer, L. A. and Mitchell, W. H. The Liberty Ships: The History of the "Emergency" Type Cargo Ships Constructed in the United States During the Second World War, Second Edition, pp. 13, 141-2, Lloyd's of London Press Ltd., London, England, 1985. ISBN 1-85044-049-2.

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